Miami Heat Fight And Claw For First OT Victory Of Year In Charlotte, 111-107

The Miami Heat were coming off of a streak-ending defeat to the Dallas Mavericks and heading to Charlotte to face a Hornets team that they had just beaten a few games back.

To pile on top of it all, it was also a game in the Hornets’ building and one where the Miami Heat dominated them in embarrassing fashion, holding them to their lowest point total of the year. So, coming into their next game on Thursday, you knew the Hornets would be motivated.

Being outplayed by a more motivated Dallas bunch on Tuesday though, you would have thought the Miami Heat would have been too. And they were, getting out to a 37-30 lead after the first quarter.

However, as the second period got going, the Miami Heat waned away. They would only score 10 points in that period, while the Hornets put up 24.

While they didn’t dominate the third period, as they had in their previous meeting, they did beat the Hornets in both the third and fourth periods. That is how they eventually forced this game into overtime.

The Miami Heat came to Charlotte off defeat and perhaps, didn’t anticipate this hard of a game. The tough wins mean the most though and this one was that.

In a game that got really ugly for both sides, but also a lot of back and forth shot-making in what could have been several sets of closing moments, the Miami Heat found a way to dig deeper and fight harder.

Personifying that notion, as he does the team and franchise as a whole, Jimmy Butler had to do a lot of that on Thursday. Struggling with his offense for much of the game, he had to find the fortitude to keep taking shots as the game closed.

That would pay off for him and his team, as he hit two of the biggest shots of the game, a mid-ranged and long-ranged jumper to help seal the deal for his team. He’s been terrible from range this season, as he has been for much of his Miami Heat tenure, but he still knew he had to take the shot.

And he made it! That, along with several timely Kyle Lowry bursts in clutch moments, helped the Miami Heat steal this one.

That’s the only way you can describe it. They head into the All-Star break as the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, as though they share identical records with the Chicago Bulls, the Heat hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with two victories in their two meetings.

The break will be good for this team and getting this win as they head there is also a plus. With good energy to close one half, they can rest up, and look to come back in the second half to complete the mission.